salut0

Priceline has a much cheaper price than Aer Lingus’ own website for a one way flight in economy IAD-DUB-LHR. Strangely this doesn’t appear on Google Flights when I searched for the trip there but it does appear on another app.

I can see the text of the fare rules on Priceline but not the actual fare basis or booking class. How will I know if I can earn Avios for the flight? I’m considering booking it since there’s a 23hr refund period but I’d love to know first if possible.

ROKNA

You don't, you don't even know if the ticket is being issued by Aer Lingus

salut0

Why is that? Because the fare class is opaque and thou can’t see it? In that case, can you get the full fare breakdown receipt from another airline site like Finnair using an Amadeus PNR?

If it’s because you can’t even tell whether a specific fare class earns miles because there might be some difference to the underlying fare — ie. an N class ticket from Priceline doesn’t earn miles but an N class ticket bought elsewhere does — how would you be able to track or predict that?

ROKNA

How is Priceline so cheap? If they are using any kind of internal discount codes you might earn nothing, unlikely but fair warning

If they are selling normal revenue tickets
If the flight is ticketed by Aer Lingus then it will earn avios in all fare classes at the published rates based, bearing in mind avios is earned on the ticket value less tax/charges which won't be much if you got a crazy good fare. The fare class doesn't matter at all its the $ paid which counts.

If the flight is ticketed by British Airways there may be fare classes which earn nothing. BA earning is by class and distance (And yes it is completely legal for BA to issue this ticket even though IATA rules suggest it must be plated by EI)

Aer Lingus website only works for tickets sold on its website, your ability to view/edit/select seats etc is unlikely to work

FlightDetective

With Aer Lingus, you'll just need to have an Avios earning class. I can't see them being able to differentiate between Priceline and something else. It would N class or N class, using your example above.

If the saving is that spectacular, do you really even care about the points?

salut0

I never like to leave points on the table. For example, I booked a Sofitel LHR room through Priceline and only then discovered that it didn’t earn any points and it was also a little more expensive than Accor’s own rate! Very very frustrating, and Priceline wouldn’t refund it, even within 24hrs. Clearly hotel points are different but you get the idea…

irishguy28

But you won't be leaving points on the table.

If the fare earns, you'll get them. If the fare doesn't earn, there simply never were any Avios to be had.

But then you can just take your massive savings and purchase Avios outright with that booty!

irishguy28

Priceline might be doing something naughty like selling a Tour Operator fare without hotels/car hire attached, which might account for the purported huge discount.

AFKL have posted several warnings on their Travel Agents website this year to remind agencies that Tour Operator fares are not to be abused in this manner.

EDIT: The relevant section regarding misuse of Tour Operator fares from AFKL's Booking and ADM policy. ADMs (Agency Debit Memos) are issued in various amounts when misuse of Tour Operator fares are discovered by the airline.

salut0

No, what I mean is: if for a given price you can get Avios by buying the flight from one source but not from another, that would sway my purchasing decision.

Curious… don’t seem to remember anything about tour operator fares in the fare rules Priceline showrd

irishguy28

But you said in your OP that Priceline is "much cheaper"; so we are surely not talking about a scenario where there is one "given price".

You would be well advised to cut out the middle man and book directly from the airline unless there are huge savings to be made by going with some potentially dodgy agent with whom you might struggle to make contact and deal with should anything go wrong with your plans.

There wouldn't necesarily be any mention of this.

FlightDetective

I see what you mean. Quite frankly I just avoid the stress and religiously book through the airline direct. I never ever book airline tickets through a third party.

Hotels, I couldn't care less as I don't care about hotel status. I usually use the Aer Lingus eStore and book through there with Booking.com or Hotels.com depending on who offers the most Avios per Euro. Usually it's 6, 8 or 12 per Euro, so it's a nice earner, that's for sure.